Baby delivered in the back of a car by firefighters tackling blaze at Falmouth boatyard

Firefighters tackling a blaze at a Cornwall boatyard helped to deliver a baby in a nearby car. Crews were called into action after Falmouth couple Alice Hearle and Josh Beardmore realised they wouldn't make it into hospital in time.

Alice was booked in for an induction the following day after her waters broke but she began experiencing contractions in her car. They tried to make their way to the hospital - but baby Olive had other plans.

Realising they wouldn’t make it to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro in time, Josh - who is used to dealing with emergency situations from his long service as an RNLI lifeboat volunteer - quickly thought of a plan B.

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He said: “We were in the car and had just got down the road when Alice said ‘I’ve got to push, the baby’s coming’. I knew about the fire at Cockwells because the road had been closed and I had seen all the news reports.

"I had been keeping an eye on it in case we had to go a different way to the hospital. I knew the fire brigade would more than likely be down there. When the ambulance service told me to pull over I thought ‘I know exactly where I can go’.

“I waved over at the guys and said ‘I think I need a bit of a hand here, my missus is having a baby’.”

Falmouth Blue Watch and Fire Investigation teams, who were dealing with the closing stages of the fire, sprang into action. The crew moved a fire engine in front of the car to block the view from the road.

Firefighter Katie Hoskins took charge of the delivery and her colleague, Rosie Tonkin, stayed on the phone with the ambulance service. Baby Olive was born safe and well at 2.36pm on Thursday, May 16.

Alice, a mobile hairdresser, said: "If they were nervous, they didn’t show it at all. They were so comforting and took control of the situation.

“I didn’t have time to be worried. I was just in the zone, I wasn’t really thinking. After about three pushes, the baby was out and she cried straight away so I knew she was okay.”

Olive is the couple's second child, meaning they had been relaxed about Alice's waters breaking a couple of days before her due date. She was checked over at the hospital and went home to rest after being booked in for her induction.

She recalled: "Everything was fine so we came home to get some rest. They booked us in for an induction at 4pm the next day.

"In the morning, not much was happening. I just had the odd very sporadic mild contraction."

Josh added: “We chilled out, went for a walk along the seafront and got a grilled cheese. At about 1pm Alice phoned the midwives. Everything was fine so they said to stick to the plan.”

But just minutes later, Alice’s labour progressed rapidly. She said: "Five minutes after I got off the phone with her, I had this secondary water break. I was getting contractions every minute.

"I couldn’t walk, couldn’t talk. In hindsight, we should have just stayed at home because we wouldn’t have made it anywhere."

Baby Olive has now been reunited with the firefighters who brought her into the world after Josh and Alice took her and two-year-old brother Teddy to thank the crews.

Alice said: “It was nice to go back and say thank you and talk about it. I wanted to say thank you to them for being so calm and jumping in like they did.

"One of the guys even noted the exact time that she was born. Little things like that mean a lot. It wasn’t the water birth I had planned but I actually feel really proud and positive about the birth."

Kathryn Billing, chief fire officer at Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Every day our crews go above and beyond to serve the people of Cornwall. I am so pleased that Olive arrived safely and I am immensely proud of the crews that helped with her delivery. They are a testament to the service and their profession.”

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